Monday, March 21, 2011

My Favorite Strawberry Necklace - Giveaway!

The evening before our wedding, my husband surprised me with a diamond necklace as a wedding gift. I put it on immediately and practically did not take it off again for years. It was nice to have a piece of jewelry that matched everything I wore! I didn't have to worry about it clashing or being not very stylish. (A diamond necklace is timeless, right?) As far as jewelry goes, I still tend to prefer something small, that is a gentle accent, and that necklace worked beautifully for quite some time.

When my oldest daughter was about 6 months old, I met Leila Carras at Mom's Group at our church. She always wore beautiful and interesting jewelry and I soon discovered that she was a glass artist. As much as I appreciated and admired her beads, I knew myself to be boring in the jewelry department. Why bother purchasing beautiful beads if they would only decorate my jewelry box? What was the point of that?

Later that year, she gifted me my first bead made by her. As thankful as I was for the gift, I almost felt guilty. I knew myself and my consistently mundane jewelry wearing tendencies. I felt a little overwhelmed. What am I going to do with this beautiful bead?!?

When my second daughter was born, I found it difficult to avoid losing my diamond from my necklace. You see, she loved to grab my necklace and yank. After frantically searching for the diamond several times and then replacing the broken chain, I gave up. Placing my sentimentally valuable diamond in my jewelry box, I decided I would wear it only for special occasions.

A new problem arose: I was used to wearing a necklace. It felt weird to not wear one at all. Thankfully, I had this great friend who made these amazing beads. I began to wear her beads on black cord. (The black cord was not as attractive as a gold or silver chain, but it held up much better to my yanking daughter.)

This picture does not do these beads justice!

I started my bead collection and the rest, I would say, is now history. I have now been collecting Leila's beads for about 4 years. Each piece I have is precious to me in its own way. You see, each bead is handmade and unique. Even though some are similar, none are exactly the same.

Currently, my favorite bead to wear is this little tiny strawberry. (Could it be because I receive so many compliments while wearing it? No. It couldn't have anything to do with that. I am certainly not that vain.) I love how small it is. As I said before, while some people prefer large, bulky jewelry, I feel much more comfortable wearing something small. So this is what I am giving away!

The giveaway:

The lucky winner of this giveaway will receive a Little Tiny Strawberry Necklace, which includes the locally handmade small strawberry bead on a 16" sterling silver chain.

21 comments:

Wow! Those are some beautiful beads. The Frog 'n Flowers is my favorite (on her Etsy page). But all of them are simply amazing. Oddly, I have not actually met Leila. I know some of her family though. I'm glad you highlighted her talent. I would have never known.

I love her beads! I have (well had) a beautiful purple flower with a white background that I loved. For my wedding, almost two years ago, she made my two daughters and I purple butterflies on a white bead. Those are my favorites now. I also love her turtles and the flowers she made for her Hawaii show!

I love these beads! This is something I've always wanted to try, but never have. My favorite one on Etsy is Happy is Yellow. I'm going to have to do some serious saving so I can buy some for myself and my granddaughters. =) I'm so happy Crissi (Christina Robinson) posted this on FB. I can't wait to buy my first beads!

Missy Mae is my niece (by marriage). I've watched her talent grow over the years so of course I have many favorites. I love my strawberry and bracelet which had been featured in a bead magazine quite a few months ago (it also has a couple of her stawberries). I just ordered a little cupcake for my little cupcake (my sweet daughter) just because so that is my new fave! xoxoxo Leila Mae!

I love the strawberry necklace! When I was little girl my mother made me a summer dress that was coverd in large strawberries-it was my favorite and worn often. This necklase reminds me of those carefree summer childhood days when the worst thing that could happen was having to come in from playing for bed. Thank you for sharing your gifts. (btw way we aren't friends on Fb, but are sisters in Christ thru Marialyce)

Tanya I have been wanting one of those strawberry necklaces for a very long time I have two friends that have them. So I would have to say the Strawberry one is my Favorite. It was good to see you yesterday wish we could have talked a minute.

Weird, I had already posted but it isn't showing up, I'll have to post again just to be on the safe side! I want that necklace. :-) My favorite is the strawberry party, I love the little blue bird! All the pieces are beautiful and I love how unique they are!